What is the best time of day to snorkel in Dry Tortugas?

Snorkel in daylight, if possible in the morning before the wind picks up. Currents are often weaker near high slack tide. SnorkelForecast scores each daylight hour for Dry Tortugas.

What is the best tide for snorkeling?

High slack tide, within about an hour of the high-tide peak, often has weaker currents. Strong low tides and tidal flow near channels or headlands reduce the score.

Dry Tortugas Snorkel Report Today

USA · Updated Sat 15:01 (EDT) · Source: Snapshot

The skinny

Go in the best window Data updated Sat 15:01 (EDT)

Dry Tortugas has a usable snorkeling window around Sat 16:00. The main thing to watch is sea temperature.

Right now (forecast)

Good · 6.3/10

Sat 15:00 (EDT)

Later today

Good · 6.8/10

Sat 18:00 (EDT)

Next three days

Excellent · 7.2/10

Mon 19:00 (EDT)

Model estimates using Open-Meteo; not observations or safety guarantees. Check official advisories and conditions at the beach.

Score: 6.8/10

Best time: Sat 16:00

Main risk: Sea Temperature

No useful morning window is showing yet.

Best afternoon signal: Sat 18:00 (Good). Peak afternoon wind is about 4.1 m/s.

Email me when it is good

Sunrise

07:16

Sunset

19:38

Water

31.3°C

Max air

30.3°C

Sky

Clear

5% cloud

Good model window in the next 72 hours

Next good model window: Sat 16:00–18:00 (38% of the next 72h meets the model threshold)

3-day planner Best available Show data

3-day planner

Saturday

✅ Good conditions

Main blocker: Sea temperature

Sunday

✅ Good conditions

Main blocker: Sea temperature

Monday

✅ Excellent conditions

Main blocker: Sea temperature

Best available hours

The next good model window starts at Sat 16:00 and lasts until 18:00.

Why this verdict

Main blockers across the next 72 hours:

Sea temperature (71 hours)
Tide/current (61 hours)
Darkness (36 hours)

Jellyfish drift risk

Drift estimate from wind, swell, current and warm water.

Low · 34/100

Low peak drift risk around Sun 03:00.

warm water supports seasonal jellyfish activity; surface drift/current is noticeable; local shoreline exposure is not mapped yet.

Sightings override the model: if you see small purple jellyfish with long trailing tentacles, treat them as sting-capable and give them space.

Upcoming high tides

Next early morning high tide: Mon 00:00

Sat 23:00, Sun 12:00, Mon 00:00, Mon 13:00, Tue 00:00

Nearby alternatives in USA

Looe Key

149 km away

✅ Good

Bahia Honda

161 km away

✅ Good

Key Largo

250 km away

✅ Good

Crystal River

476 km away

✅ Good

Advanced forecast data

Viewing current forecast

Sat 15:00 – Tue 15:00 (EDT)

Previous day Yesterday

Snorkel Score (next 24h)

Best snorkel score is 0.68 around Sat 18:00; 12 of 24 hours are good, fair, or excellent.

Score trend, higher is better. Excellent ≥ 0.72, good 0.55–0.72, fair 0.35–0.55.

Conditions (24h trends)

Tap a chart to load just that series.

20/24 sampled hours stay at or below 0.36m (range 0.22m to 0.4m).

Wind is at or below 5.4m/s in 22/24 sampled hours (range 0.64 to 7.99m/s).

Tides range from -0.33m to 0.08m; 2 of 24 hours are in or near peak slack windows.

72-hour forecast overview

Sat 16:00 Good 🌟 Good

Sat 17:00 Good 🌟 Good

Sat 18:00 Good 🌟 Good

Sat 19:00 Fair ⚠️ Fair

Sat 20:00 Poor ❌ Limited

Sat 21:00 Poor ❌ Limited

Sat 22:00 Poor ❌ Limited

Sat 23:00 Poor ❌ Limited

Sun 00:00 Poor ❌ Limited

Sun 01:00 Poor ❌ Limited

Sun 02:00 Poor ❌ Limited

Sun 03:00 Poor ❌ Limited

Sun 04:00 Poor ❌ Limited

Sun 05:00 Poor ❌ Limited

Sun 06:00 Poor ❌ Limited

Sun 07:00 Poor ❌ Limited

Sun 08:00 Good 🌟 Good

Sun 09:00 Good 🌟 Good

Sun 10:00 Good 🌟 Good

Sun 11:00 Fair ⚠️ Fair

Sun 12:00 Good 🌟 Good

Sun 13:00 Good 🌟 Good

Sun 14:00 Fair ⚠️ Fair

Sun 15:00 Fair ⚠️ Fair

Sun 16:00 Good 🌟 Good

Sun 17:00 Good 🌟 Good

Sun 18:00 Good 🌟 Good

Sun 19:00 Good 🌟 Good

Sun 20:00 Poor ❌ Limited

Sun 21:00 Poor ❌ Limited

Sun 22:00 Poor ❌ Limited

Sun 23:00 Poor ❌ Limited

Mon 00:00 Poor ❌ Limited

Mon 01:00 Poor ❌ Limited

Mon 02:00 Poor ❌ Limited

Mon 03:00 Poor ❌ Limited

Mon 04:00 Poor ❌ Limited

Mon 05:00 Poor ❌ Limited

Mon 06:00 Poor ❌ Limited

Mon 07:00 Poor ❌ Limited

Mon 08:00 Good 🌟 Good

Mon 09:00 Good 🌟 Good

Mon 10:00 Good 🌟 Good

Mon 11:00 Good 🌟 Good

Mon 12:00 Good 🌟 Good

Mon 13:00 Good 🌟 Good

Mon 14:00 Good 🌟 Good

Mon 15:00 Good 🌟 Good

Mon 16:00 Good 🌟 Good

Mon 17:00 Excellent ✅ Excellent

Mon 18:00 Good 🌟 Good

Mon 19:00 Excellent ✅ Excellent

Mon 20:00 Poor ❌ Limited

Mon 21:00 Poor ❌ Limited

Mon 22:00 Poor ❌ Limited

Mon 23:00 Poor ❌ Limited

Tue 00:00 Poor ❌ Limited

Tue 01:00 Poor ❌ Limited

Tue 02:00 Poor ❌ Limited

Tue 03:00 Poor ❌ Limited

Tue 04:00 Poor ❌ Limited

Tue 05:00 Poor ❌ Limited

Tue 06:00 Poor ❌ Limited

Tue 07:00 Poor ❌ Limited

Tue 08:00 Good 🌟 Good

Tue 09:00 Good 🌟 Good

Tue 10:00 Fair ⚠️ Fair

Tue 11:00 Fair ⚠️ Fair

Tue 12:00 Fair ⚠️ Fair

Tue 13:00 Fair ⚠️ Fair

Tue 14:00 Good 🌟 Good

Scoring methodology (for technical users)

We score each hour from 0 to 1 using daylight and these weighted components:

Wave height (35%): best below 0.36m, then decreases as it rises.
Wind speed (25%): best below 5.4m/s, lower is better.
Sea surface temperature (15%): best within 20.6°C to 30.4°C.
Tide and currents (15%): best around slack/high-tide windows.
Daylight (10%): visibility is better in daylight, so night hours score lower.

Detailed hourly data table

Time	Wave (m)	Wind (m/s)	Sea temp (°C)	Status
Sat 16:00	0.40 · high	0.64 · good	31.30 · out of range	Good
Sat 17:00	0.38 · high	2.69 · good	31.30 · out of range	Good
Sat 18:00	0.36 · good	3.04 · good	31.30 · out of range	Good
Sat 19:00	0.36 · good	4.06 · good	31.20 · out of range	Fair
Sat 20:00	0.34 · good	4.02 · good	31.20 · out of range	Poor
Sat 21:00	0.34 · good	4.16 · good	31.20 · out of range	Poor
Sat 22:00	0.34 · good	4.34 · good	31.20 · out of range	Poor
Sat 23:00	0.34 · good	4.43 · good	31.20 · out of range	Poor
Sun 00:00	0.36 · good	4.21 · good	31.20 · out of range	Poor
Sun 01:00	0.36 · good	4.20 · good	31.10 · out of range	Poor
Sun 02:00	0.38 · high	4.02 · good	31.10 · out of range	Poor
Sun 03:00	0.38 · high	3.89 · good	31.10 · out of range	Poor
Sun 04:00	0.36 · good	4.20 · good	31.10 · out of range	Poor
Sun 05:00	0.36 · good	3.58 · good	31.00 · out of range	Poor
Sun 06:00	0.34 · good	3.04 · good	31.00 · out of range	Poor
Sun 07:00	0.30 · good	2.48 · good	31.00 · out of range	Poor
Sun 08:00	0.28 · good	2.14 · good	31.00 · out of range	Good
Sun 09:00	0.26 · good	2.33 · good	31.10 · out of range	Good
Sun 10:00	0.26 · good	1.70 · good	31.20 · out of range	Good
Sun 11:00	0.24 · good	4.24 · good	31.30 · out of range	Fair
Sun 12:00	0.24 · good	2.51 · good	31.40 · out of range	Good
Sun 13:00	0.22 · good	2.95 · good	31.50 · out of range	Good
Sun 14:00	0.22 · good	6.95 · high	31.50 · out of range	Fair
Sun 15:00	0.22 · good	7.99 · high	31.60 · out of range	Fair
Sun 16:00	0.20 · good	5.92 · high	31.60 · out of range	Good
Sun 17:00	0.20 · good	1.88 · good	31.60 · out of range	Good
Sun 18:00	0.20 · good	2.72 · good	31.60 · out of range	Good
Sun 19:00	0.20 · good	2.52 · good	31.60 · out of range	Good
Sun 20:00	0.20 · good	2.20 · good	31.60 · out of range	Poor
Sun 21:00	0.20 · good	2.56 · good	31.60 · out of range	Poor
Sun 22:00	0.20 · good	4.12 · good	31.50 · out of range	Poor
Sun 23:00	0.20 · good	4.70 · good	31.40 · out of range	Poor
Mon 00:00	0.20 · good	6.45 · high	31.40 · out of range	Poor
Mon 01:00	0.20 · good	4.73 · good	31.30 · out of range	Poor
Mon 02:00	0.20 · good	2.21 · good	31.20 · out of range	Poor
Mon 03:00	0.20 · good	0.22 · good	31.20 · out of range	Poor
Mon 04:00	0.20 · good	1.22 · good	31.20 · out of range	Poor
Mon 05:00	0.20 · good	0.20 · good	31.20 · out of range	Poor
Mon 06:00	0.20 · good	1.43 · good	31.20 · out of range	Poor
Mon 07:00	0.20 · good	1.89 · good	31.20 · out of range	Poor
Mon 08:00	0.20 · good	2.51 · good	31.20 · out of range	Good
Mon 09:00	0.20 · good	2.61 · good	31.20 · out of range	Good
Mon 10:00	0.22 · good	2.65 · good	31.30 · out of range	Good
Mon 11:00	0.22 · good	2.33 · good	31.30 · out of range	Good
Mon 12:00	0.24 · good	2.18 · good	31.40 · out of range	Good
Mon 13:00	0.24 · good	2.06 · good	31.40 · out of range	Good
Mon 14:00	0.26 · good	2.44 · good	31.50 · out of range	Good
Mon 15:00	0.26 · good	2.10 · good	31.50 · out of range	Good
Mon 16:00	0.24 · good	1.65 · good	31.50 · out of range	Good
Mon 17:00	0.24 · good	1.61 · good	31.50 · out of range	Excellent
Mon 18:00	0.24 · good	2.15 · good	31.50 · out of range	Good
Mon 19:00	0.22 · good	3.05 · good	31.40 · out of range	Excellent
Mon 20:00	0.22 · good	3.69 · good	31.40 · out of range	Poor
Mon 21:00	0.22 · good	3.89 · good	31.40 · out of range	Poor
Mon 22:00	0.22 · good	3.96 · good	31.40 · out of range	Poor
Mon 23:00	0.22 · good	3.96 · good	31.40 · out of range	Poor
Tue 00:00	0.22 · good	4.06 · good	31.30 · out of range	Poor
Tue 01:00	0.24 · good	4.00 · good	31.30 · out of range	Poor
Tue 02:00	0.24 · good	4.00 · good	31.30 · out of range	Poor
Tue 03:00	0.24 · good	4.39 · good	31.30 · out of range	Poor
Tue 04:00	0.26 · good	5.07 · good	31.20 · out of range	Poor
Tue 05:00	0.26 · good	5.34 · good	31.20 · out of range	Poor
Tue 06:00	0.26 · good	5.48 · high	31.20 · out of range	Poor
Tue 07:00	0.26 · good	5.19 · good	31.20 · out of range	Poor
Tue 08:00	0.26 · good	4.85 · good	31.20 · out of range	Good
Tue 09:00	0.26 · good	4.34 · good	31.20 · out of range	Good
Tue 10:00	0.28 · good	3.98 · good	31.20 · out of range	Fair
Tue 11:00	0.28 · good	3.88 · good	31.30 · out of range	Fair
Tue 12:00	0.28 · good	3.55 · good	31.30 · out of range	Fair
Tue 13:00	0.30 · good	3.01 · good	31.40 · out of range	Fair
Tue 14:00	0.30 · good	3.54 · good	31.40 · out of range	Good